Lend Me A Tenor opens next week

Photo courtesy of Photography by Anne Desperate to find a replacement for his passed-out tenor, Opera impresario Saunders (played by Warren Kelley) coerces his hapless assistant Max (Scott Evans) into going on in his place.

Photo courtesy of Photography by Anne Panic ensues - and the hilarity begins - when opera impresario Saunders (played by Warren Kelley, center) and his assistant Max (Scott Evans, right) discover that their leading man (Ken Krugman) has taken a few too many sleeping pills and passed out prior to the opening night performance.

Photo courtesy of Photography by Anne World famous opera singer Tito Mirelli, played by Ken Krugman (right), attempts to teach aspiring singer Max, played by Scott Evans, some of the secrets to his success.

“It’s a brilliant, well-constructed play,” said Warren Kelley, one of the New York actors starring in the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina’s production being staged Feb. 7-26 in the Elizabeth Wallace Theatre. “Every role is so well written.”

Kelley plays Saunders, impresario of the struggling Cleveland Grand Opera Company. High strung, his nerves go into overdrive when world-famous Italian tenor Tito Merelli arrives in town to sing the lead in a gala performance of Verdi’s “Otello.”

Hailed by his adoring fans as “Il Stupendo,” Merelli is known as much for his roving eye as his high C’s. Wary of her husband’s womanizing ways, his wife Maria mistakes an autograph seeker hiding in his hotel closet for a secret lover and walks out.

Distraught over her departure, the singer accidentally takes a double dose of tranquilizers and passes out. When Saunders walks in to find his star unconscious, he panics.

“It’s the biggest night for the opera company and it looks like it might go awry,” said Kelley, whose Arts Center credits include “Boeing, Boeing” and “The Full Monty.” “He quickly comes up with a plan to save the show.”

Enter Max, the opera house gofer. Saunders coaxes his mousey assistant to dress up as Otello in costume, makeup and wig and sing the part for Merelli. Max, who dreams of being an opera star, succeeds admirably — until the real opera star shows up for Act II.

That’s when confusion turns to chaos with Otellos coming and going in every direction. To add to the hilarity, a flirtatious soprano with plans of sleeping her way to the top attempts to seduce Max, believing he is Il Stupendo.

“She is not beyond using her feminine wiles to advance her career,” said Lauren Pastorek, cast as the diva Diana. “Tito is her ticket to the Met and she will do whatever she needs to do to convince him to help her get to New York.”

“Every character goes for broke to get what they want—and none of them has an edit button,” said Denise Cormier, playing Merelli’s wife Maria. “They say whatever they’re thinking.”

Like Kelley, Cormier has appeared in two other Arts Center productions: “Cabaret” and “Steel Magnolias.” Other returning actors in the cast include Pastorek, who co-starred with Kelley in “Boeing, Boeing,” and Scott Evans, best known for his roles as Leo Bloom in “The Producers” and Eliza Doolittle’s loves-struck suitor in “My Fair Lady.”

In “Lend Me a Tenor,” Evans has been cast as Max, a role he has long wanted to play.

“I love this character,” Evans said. “He goes through such a huge transformation from doormat to star.”

Performances of “Lend Me a Tenor” are at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday with Sunday shows at 2 p.m. and additional 7 p.m. performances Feb. 19 and 26. Tickets are $44 ($39 for the Feb. 7-9 previews), $31 for children 15 and younger ($27 for the previews), and may be purchased at the box office, online at www.artshhi.com or by phone with a credit card by calling 842-ARTS (2787).